30 days or Bust!

The Four Themes, I Think!

 Gotta get this dissertation done.    Going up to Idaho was a shot in the arm. So glad I went, though I had to drag myself up there. I was looking for a reason not to go, and when my truck was vandalized right before I left, it was very tempting to see that as a reason. A friend down here said my staying wasn't going to accomplish anything. So I went.  Thank you to my friends who looked in on Ber and Gio, by the way!  I was not comfortable leaving them, after the truck incident, for sure.

Flowers from my Neighbors

Boy was I glad.   Talking with my fellow doc students about our dissertations was great.  The energy and enthusiasm helped so much. Talking with my adviser/chair was HUGE.   I really started to see value in all this data I had collected.   Talking with my other committee members was a great help--I picked each of them for a reason, and they definitely got me going in the right direction.

One of the best things was presenting to one of my adviser's classes.   These were my fellow doc students.  Such a positive, to get to share some things I had learned while going through comps, and to share my research, and to be met with such positive enthusiasm.    I so, so missed being around that!   

The Research Board...

I also visited the charter school where I interned last year. Seeing my friends/colleagues there, and talking about school was lovely.   I was able to do math with my friends, Julie and Hailey and Austin, and talk shop with Lisa and Bekkie, among other people.  What fun.  

Finally, I had a small window of time to see some of my Idaho friends, including seeing Dora ride her beloved equine friend, Cowboy and hanging out with Dora's family of pets and people.  I consider them to be my family in Idaho!     Had dinner at the great Mexican place in Kuna with Kathy and Joe, too, though I missed checking in with their animal family.  While I was there, I had to drive by the Lake Hazel house, and that was hard.   All these feelings kept coming up, that I really don't want to look at.  Thinking about Arcy and Georgia, and our time in Idaho.  Thinking about the things I learned about myself and life while I was there.  Too much was compressed into such a short time, and I can't stop to think about it right now, but I will in good time. 

Patio Garden at 6 am.   Not sure why I like this picture, but I do.

The most frequent question I hear these days is "What are you doing after your dissertation?"  This is a very reasonable question.   My answer is, "I do not know."  All my life I have had a set agenda. I have known what I was doing, and I was not comfortable without having some goal that I was shooting for.  I no longer have a plan, and outside of completing my dissertation, my goal is to enjoy one day at a time, and see what unfolds.  This is an experiment.  If I allow the universe to wheel about without my directing it, what will happen?  lol. Yeah, and the universe laughs.

Oh, I have big requests that I put out there...  I want to have a home again, where my horses can be, and where I can invite a couple of dog souls to live, where I can garden and cook and have people come visit.  I want to have a job where I am using my abilities to positive ends.  I want to enjoy the natural world and my horses.   But I have no idea where that will be, or in what form it will be. That I leave open.  And I really am comfortable with that.  Pretty amazing.

So, 30 days or bust, to have the results/conclusion sections of my dissertation drafted, to begin the sharing/revision process with my adviser/chair.  November 11th.   If you see me, tell me I can do it.  :) If I really did what I say I did in Idaho for 18 months, I really can do this.   30 days or Bust!!

Lady and Basil, dog souls from my childhood.